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DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Review: Is It Worth It & What?s The Difference?


dji mavic pro platinum review

Ever since the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum was announced, we?ve been extremely excited to get our hands on one!.

Now, after a few weeks of testing it out, we?re happy to bring you our in-depth DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Review.

The Mavic Pro Platinum is DJI?s latest instalment of their Mavic Pro series, with a few handy upgrades from their previous model. Alongside their release of the Mavic Pro Platinum was the DJI Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian, another drone we?re looking forward to try out.

It?s safe to say that the Mavic Pro Platinum is a filmmakers dream. With a foldable design, impressive specifications and one of the best cameras ever seen on a consumer drone, we?ve fallen in love with the Mavic Pro Platinum. Stick with us, and we?ll show you why.

??DJI Mavic Pro Platinum ?Review

?Flight Time

Camera

?Range

?Price

What We Like:

  • ?Easy to fly
  • ?High quality camera
  • ?Easy to transport
  • ?Insane control range
  • ?Long flight time

What We Don’t Like:

  • ?Can?t shoot at 4k at 60 frames per second
  • ?Narrow FOV (field of view)
  • ?Average auto-white balance

?Summary: ?The DJI Mavic Pro Platinum is one of my favorite drones currently on the market. I’ve always been a fan of the Mavic Pro drone and it’s latest installment does not disappoint. 

It shoots incredibly high quality footage, is insanely easy to fly and is one of the most portable drones on the market. Unfortunately. the Mavic Pro Platinum does cost a fair chunk of change, but if you’re looking for one of the best drones around, it’s well worth the price tag.

Mavic closeup shot

What?s in the Box?

To kick off our DJI Mavic Pro Platinum review, let?s take a look at what you get alongside the drone. There are a number of different buying options and bundles when it comes to the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum. We bought the Mavic Pro Platinum on its own and not in a bundle, however we will go over some of the bundle options further in this article.

The following was inside the box of our DJI Mavic Pro Platinum:

  • DJI Mavic Pro Platinum
  • Transmitter
  • 16GB SD Card
  • Battery
  • Charger
  • 6 Propellers
  • User manual
  • Support Documents

dji mavic pro platinum review

As you can see, you get everything you need for the drone to get up and flying. Of course this is the bare minimum required for a successful flight and it is always recommended that you get a spare battery or two, but we?ll delve into the accessories later.

If you?ve never flown a drone before, the user manual is incredibly easy to follow and there are a plethora of tutorials by DJI on YouTube.

Specs and Features

Very few drones are able to rival the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum in terms of specifications and features. Let?s take a closer look.

DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Specs:

  • Flight Time: 30 minutes
  • Maximum Range: 7km
  • Camera (Video): 4k at 30 fps
  • Camera (Photos): 12 Megapixels
  • Max Speed: 40mph (65kph) in sport mode
  • Weight: 240g
  • Size (Folded): 83mm x 83mm x 198mm (HXWXL)
  • Diagonal Size (excluding props): 335mm
  • Gimbal: 3-axis

DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Features:

  • Automatic take off and landing
  • One key return to home
  • GPS
  • VPS (Vision Positioning System)
  • Intelligent Flight Modes
  • Obstacle Avoidance Sensors

Related Reading: The Best DJI Mavic Pro Cases & Backpacks

Forest and water

Mavic Pro Platinum Review

Ok, now down to the fun stuff? the review itself!

Design

There?s no denying that that DJI Mavic Pro Platinum sports an impressive design. The rotor arms are foldable and can be collapsed into the drones? body reducing it to an almost pocket sized device.

I was extremely impressed by how sturdy the rotor arms felt, I had been slightly worried that they would be a bit flimsy but that wasn?t the case at all.

There is one design feature that I am not overly keen on; the drones body and camera lay a tad too close to the floor. I will be making use of either a landing pad or landing gear extenders if I am taking off or landing on a beach or on snow. Due to the compact design of the Mavic Pro Platinum, the drones? low profile design is to be expected.

Of course aesthetically, the only major difference between this and the old Mavic Pro is the colour. The colour has now unsurprisingly changed to a more Platinum colour, as opposed to the matte grey that was featured on the previous model.

I have to say that aesthetically, this is my favourite drone yet by DJI. It?s hard to get your head around just how compact it really is. As a reminder, when folded down the Mavic Pro Platinum is 8.3cm x 8.3cm x 19.8cm (height x width x length). This makes it a great choice for pilots who frequently travel with their drone.

Usability

Overview

When I got my first DJI drone a few years back, I was surprised at how easy it was to fly. Ease of use is something that DJI has continued to develop over the years and with the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum, have created a product that I dare say? anyone can fly.

Ok, maybe not anyone, but this thing pretty much flies itself. There?s also a beginner mode that can be activated that reduces the drones? maximum range to 30m and slows down its maximum speed. This will allow you to get used to piloting the drone before you really open it up.

At the push of a button the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum is able to both automatically take off and land. This is great if you?re a beginner and not 100% comfortable doing this yourself.

When the drone takes off it records its position, which is known as its ?home point?. When you?re flying, you?re able to return the drone to its take off position using the return to home button. The drone will then autonomously come back to wherever it took off from. This is great if you experience a fly away or lose sight of your drone.

VPS & GPS

The DJI Mavic Pro Platinum makes use of both GPS and VPS positioning systems. The GPS positioning uses satellites to pin point its position and allow it to autonomously hover without swaying from side to side. If you?ve ever flown a cheap drone without GPS, then you?re probably aware that keeping it steady is a heck of a lot harder.

Alongside this is a vision positioning system. This makes use of sensors located underneath the drones? body that are able to detect the ground and maintain its position. You should be aware that this only works when flying below 42 feet.

Hovering DJI Mavic

Intelligent Flight Modes

Intelligent flight modes are where the drone is able to perform cinematic manoeuvres autonomously, without the need of being piloted. These make shooting some awesome looking footage incredibly easy and luckily, the Mavic Pro Platinum comes packed full of them.

I will quickly go over some of the useful intelligent flight modes that I tried out and how I found them.

Point of Interest (POI) Mode: This was one of the first intelligent flight modes that DJI released and is still one of my go-to manoeuvres when I want to film some cinematic shots. POI mode is where the drone is able to autonomously circle an object, whilst keeping the object in the centre of the frame.

To set this up you simply hover the drone over the object you want to circle and select this as the point of interest. You then fly the drone away from the object to your desired radius, select the direction you want to go (clockwise or anticlockwise) and then enter the speed you wish the drone to move at.

Once this is all done press go and the drone will begin to circle the object. You are then able to adjust the altitude and tilt the camera whilst the drone is performing the manoeuvre. This works incredibly well and is a great way for beginner pilots to shoot some very cinematic shots.

I found that if the conditions are windy, then the drone doesn?t always fly at a consistent speed. To combat this, I let the drone circle the object a few times whilst filming and was easily able to find a good section where the shot looked nice and fluid.

dji mavic pro platinum review

Follow me mode: To use this mode, you?re smartphone or tablet must have GPS enabled. If your device doesn?t have GPS, you won?t be able to make use of this feature. Follow me mode is where the drone autonomously follows the direction of the transmitter. The drone will remain at the same distance from the transmitter as when you activated the mode. I love using this mode as it allows me to be in some of the shots for once, as well as delivering some awesome looking footage.

Waypoints: This is where you select several points where you wish the drone to travel, creating a route that it will follow autonomously. This is another great one for beginners, as they are able to fly the drone without having to manually control it. I found this worked really well and the drone was able to accurately travel to each waypoint before moving on. Although a handy feature, it doesn?t deliver as cinematic looking footage as the other two modes I just discussed.

I could be here all day discussing the different intelligent flight modes, however I found a great video on YouTube that described each mode perfectly. Check it out below to see the different modes, how to use them and how they look. Thanks to Billy Kyle for the video, definitely check out his channel for more awesome tutorials.

Obstacle Avoidance Sensors

The obstacle avoidance sensors are able to detect objects within 49 feet of the drone. If you then fly too close to an object, the drone will automatically stop before you hit it.

Although these obstacle avoidance sensors are incredibly handy, don?t rely on them too much. I found that if you?re flying towards a solid object like a wall of a car, they work really well. However if you?re flying towards something like a mesh fence or a branch, the obstacle avoidance sensors may not be able to pick it up.

These are definitely a great feature and something worth mentioning, just make sure you remain cautious whilst flying and don?t do anything too crazy.

Camera

Moving onto the ?Mavic Pro Platinums? camera, probably the main reason you?re here! Well, I can happily tell you that it does not disappoint. The Mavic Pro Platinum features the same impressive camera as seen in the previous Mavic Pro model and continues to deliver some frickin? awesome stuff!

The Mavic Pro Platinum?s camera features a 1/2.3? (CMOS) sensor and a 28mm lens with a 78.8 degree field of view (FOV).

The field of view was slightly smaller than I am used to, having become accustomed to the Phantom 4 Pro?s 84 degree FOV. Having said that, the Mavic Pro Platinum still provides ample room for wide landscape shots to be framed.

The camera supports an ISO range of 100-3000 for video and 100-1600 for photographs as well as a shutter speed of 8s ? 1/8000s.

dji mavic pro platinum review

When filming, the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum?s camera can shoot 4k in up to 30fps and 1080p in up to 96fps. I like being able to shoot in high frames per second as this allows you to do some slow-motion effects in postproduction.

Shooting in 4k is also great as it future proofs your work, meaning that you will be able to use that footage for years to come when high definition is a thing of a past. Shooting in 4k also allows you to do some other cool stuff in postproduction such as the Vertigo effect.

Drone footage

The drone can store its? footage in MP4, MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264) formats.

I found that the Mavic Pro Platinum was able to take equally impressive photographs with its 12-megapixel camera. These can be stored as either JPEG or DNG formats.

The camera itself is mounted to the drones? body via a 3-axis gimbal. This keeps the camera incredibly stable whilst your flying, resulting in fluid and cinematic looking shots.

One thing I should also mention is that I found the auto-white balance wasn?t the best. In some lighting situations, I got a kind of blue tint on my footage. To avoid this, manually set the white balance yourself.

DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Top Tip: When filming, try and have the lowest ISO possible. If you increase the ISO, you will get what is known as ?noise?. This is where the image goes a bit grainy, which will definitely ruin your shot. ISO should be a last resort when you?re looking to increase the brightness of your shot.

Drone flying in winter

Range & Flight Time

We?ve seen no improvement to the range of the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum, which remains at 7km. The drone makes use of DJI?s latest OcuSync video transmission system, which is what allows it to be flown at such vast distances. You can also use a signal booster to strengthen your devices connection to the drone, which provides a more stable feedback from the drones? camera.

I was thrilled to hear that the Mavic Pro Platinum would be getting a flight time improvement up to 30-minutes. I actually found that it lasted for around 27-28 minutes, however drones never quite fly for as long as the manufacturers state.

Before You Fly

Before you fly, make sure that you remove the gimbal lock that comes attached to the drone. I hate to say it, but I was very close to forgetting! Luckily I had a pre-flight checklist at hand, which prompted me to do an inspection of the camera and gimbal.

Also, you must register your drone with DJI before you are able to fly it. This is something new that DJI introduced back in May 2017. If you don?t register your drone with them, you?ll be unable to take off.

Transmitter

The DJI Mavic Pro Platinum features the same transmitter as seen with the previous model. I love how the transmitter maintains the compact design of the Mavic Pro and can easily fit inside a backpack. I way prefer the Mavic transmitter to the Phantom 4?s transmitter; it?s so much lighter and easier to hold.

If you?re planning on using a tablet with the transmitter, you will need to get a third party tablet mount if your device is longer than 6.8inches and thicker than 0.34inches. I use this mount, which does a great job. Plus it comes alongside a lanyard that I literally always use.

dji mavic pro platinum reviewMavic in white

DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Review: Pros & Cons

I will quickly go over what I did and didn?t like about the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum:

?Pros:

  • ?Easy to fly ? thanks to intelligent flight modes, obstacle avoidance sensors, GPS positioning and VPS positioning, a complete beginner can fly the Mavic Pro Platinum.
  • ?High quality camera ? the drone is able to shoot fantastic looking photographs and videos that can undoubtedly be used in professional situations.
  • ?Easy to transport ? The foldable design paired with the drones lightweight build make it one of the most portable drones for aerial filmmakers and photographers. The Mavic Pro Platinum is ideal for those of you who are planning on flying with your drone.
  • ?Insane control range ? The OcuSync technology used by DJI allows you to cover some pretty staggering distances whilst maintaining a live feedback from the drones? camera.
  • ?Long flight time ? Having to stop flying because you?ve run out of battery quite frankly sucks. Luckily, the Mavic Pro Platinum?s 30-minute flight time is more than enough. If you get yourself a spare battery, you?ve got an hour of airtime, not bad!

?Cons:

  • ?Can?t shoot at 4k at 60 frames per second. Having used the Phantom 4 Pro for a while, I got used to being able to shoot at 60fps whilst shooting in 4k. This is one of the only things that I prefer about the DJI Phantom 4 Pro.
  • ?Field of view slightly narrower than that of the Phantom 4 Pro.
  • ?Auto-white balance wasn?t the best, however you should always manually set the white balance so it doesn?t matter too much.

DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Frequently Asked Questions

?Can I use my DJI Mavic Pro batteries with my Mavic Pro Platinum?

Yes, you certainly can.

?Can a beginner pilot fly the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum?

Yes, as I mentioned in the review, the Mavic Pro Platinum comes packed with features that makes flying super easy. Of course, if you are a beginner you should take the time to learn how to fly a drone safely and following the rules. Although it?s easy to fly, unexpected things can go wrong and an inexperienced pilot may not know how to get the drone back under control. So there is a risk of losing your investment, if a small one.

?Does the noise reduction work in all flight modes?

Yes, whatever flight mode you are flying in should not affect the noise levels of the drone.

?Is the DJI Mavic Pro the best drone for photography?

It is definitely up there, of course there are higher end drones such as the DJI Inspire 2 that support higher quality cameras. However at this price range, you will struggle to find a better drone designed for aerial photography and cinematography.

?Can I make money with the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum?

?Yes, this is a great drone to make money with. The camera quality is easily good enough to be used in a professional manner. Depending on where you are located, you will most likely have to register and be certified to fly your drone commercially.

Check Out The DJI Mavic Pro Platinum in Action

DJI Mavic Pro VS DJI Mavic Pro Platinum: What?s the Difference?

dji mavic pro vs dji mavic pro platinum

Ok, now we?ve finished our DJI Mavic Pro Platinum review, it?s time to take a look at the difference between this and the old Mavic Pro model.

To be honest, not much has changed!

The DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Is Quieter

The first noticeable difference between the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum and the original Mavic Pro is the sound. The Mavic Pro Platinum is up to 4 decibelsquieter than the original. When you first fly the Mavic Pro Platinum it?s a bit weird, when you look at it you expect it to make a tonne of noise. Then it takes off and you can barely hear it! DJI definitely did a great job there, although I am not sure how much of a necessary improvement it was.

dji mavic pro platinum review

Longer Flight Time

Thanks to the new FOC sinusoidal driver ESC?s and the newly designed 8331 propellers, the Mavic Pro Platinum is able to sustain a flight time of 30-minutes. These 3 extra minutes were extremely noticeable and very much appreciated. This also means that the Mavic Pro Platinum joins the Phantom 4 series with the longest flight time in DJI?s commercial range.

New Colour & Logo

Apart from the technical differences between the two models, the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum sports a brand new paint job, with a far more platinum tint.

As well as this, we can see the addition of the word ?platinum? in cursive font alongside the traditional Mavic Pro branding. I loved how the original looked and to be honest, wasn?t sure if would like the new colour. Having got used to the new model, it turns out I really like the colour and actually prefer it to the previous design.

Price

The Mavic Pro series has always been one of DJI?s higher end consumer drones, with the new Mavic Pro Platinum costing $1099. This is $100 more than the $999 price of the original Mavic Pro.

To be honest, if you?re going to be forking out $1000 for a drone, you may as well spend that extra $100 for the extended flight time. Alternatively, if you can?t quite stretch your budget, the original Mavic Pro is still an absolute beast and well worth the money.

Useful DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Accessories

Of course, buying a drone is only one part of the process. You need the tools to fly!

Whilst accessories are not technically required, they sure as hell make flying the drone a lot easier and more fun. Below I will list some accessories that I find useful when flying the Mavic Pro Platinum.

That?s just to name a few! Check out this full list of the best accessories for the Mavic Pro & the Mavic Pro Platinum.

DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Alternatives

Unfortunately, the Mavic Pro is pretty damn expensive. If you?re looking to quench your thirst to fly, but don?t fancy spending just over $1000 on a drone, check out the DJI Spark listed below. The following models are high quality camera drones that are great for all experience level pilots.

DJI Spark

Costing less than half the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum, the DJI Spark is a great micro quad copter perfect for first time pilots. The drone is incredibly easy to fly and can be flown using a transmitter, smartdevice or by gesturecontrol.

The DJI Spark has a 16-minute flight time and a maximum range of 1km when piloting the drone with a transmitter.

The camera can shoot in 1080p at 30 fps, 12 megapixel photographs and is stabilised by a 2-axis gimbal. The DJI Spark also comes packed with tonnes of intelligent flight modes that make it super easy to fly.

DJI Phantom 4 Pro

The Phantom 4 pro is another incredibly popular drone by DJI and is a big hit with aerial filmmakers and photographers.

Similarly to the Mavic, the Phantom 4 Pro can sustain 30-minute flight time and reach a maximum distance of 7km.

The drones? camera can shoot in 4k at 60 fps and take 20 megapixel photographs. As you can see, the Phantom 4 Pro?s camera is better than the Mavics?. Many people (myself included) prefer the compact design of the Mavic to the slightly better camera of the Phantom 4 Pro.

dji mavic pro platinum review

As with all DJI drones, the Phantom 4 Pro comes with a series of intelligent flight modes, as well as both VPS and GPS positioning. The drone also has 5 directional obstacle avoidance sensors for added safety.

DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Review: Final Thoughts

So the big question?

Is the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum worth buying?  

YES, I do believe it is. The Mavic Pro Platinum is a great little upgrade from the older model and I love the extra flight time. The camera is able to shoot fantastic looking footage and the drone itself is responsive and easy to fly.

That?s not to say the old Mavic Pro isn?t worth the money! Both models are incredibly high quality and will deliver the same stunning footage.

Comment below if you think the extra $100 is worth it!

Thanks for taking the time to read our DJI Mavic Pro Platinum review, if you have any questions, don?t hesitate to ask.

Happy flying!

Summary

Flight Time
Camera
Range
Price

The DJI Mavic Pro Platinum is an incredible drone for any skill level pilot. The drone itself is able to deliver incredibly high quality and stable footage whilst being one of the most user friendly drones on the market.

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3 Comments

  1. Agree with you. You may as well pay that bit more for those 3-minutes. Got the Platinum and love it… may even say i am addicted lol.

    Thank you for review.

  2. It comes in a compact design which allows its propeller arms to fold inside its own body, making it incredible portable and only about the size of a water bottle. thanks for sharing this review.

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